I don't understand why login page shows first when I try to view my web application

Question

After I publishing my first web app to test what I had been learning, I discovered that when I type the Web address in the browser address bar, it takes me to login page instead of the Default page. Why did it not show me the Default page first, is what I don't understand ? Could it be that the authentication was not properly set? But I set the Default page and some other pages like about and sign up pages as anonymous access, allowing any user to have access to the pages, but yet it still takes me to Login page; the default page doesn't show first Here is my web config

<system.web>
    <trust level="Full"/>
    <sessionState timeout="40"></sessionState>
    <authentication mode="Forms">
      <forms name="login" timeout="40" cookieless="UseCookies" loginUrl="Login.aspx" defaultUrl="overview.aspx" slidingExpiration="true" />
    </authentication>
    <authorization>
      <deny users="?" />
    </authorization>
    <compilation debug="true" targetFramework="4.7.2" />
    <httpRuntime targetFramework="4.7.2" maxRequestLength="3145728" />
    <customErrors mode="Off" />
    <pages enableEventValidation="false">
      <controls>
        <add tagPrefix="ajaxToolkit" assembly="AjaxControlToolkit" namespace="AjaxControlToolkit" />
      </controls>
    </pages>
  </system.web>
<location path="Signup.aspx">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow users="*" />
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
  </location>
  <location path="Default.aspx">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow users="*" />
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
  </location>
  <location path="About.aspx">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow users="*" />
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
  </location>

I also made some routing in the Global asax file

void Application_Start(object sender, EventArgs e) 
    {
        // Code that runs on application startup
                ScriptManager.ScriptResourceMapping.AddDefinition("jquery", 
    new ScriptResourceDefinition
{
Path = "~/scripts/jquery-1.7.2.min.js",
DebugPath = "~/scripts/jquery-1.7.2.min.js",
CdnPath = "http://ajax.aspnetcdn.com/ajax/jQuery/jquery-1.4.1.min.js",
CdnDebugPath = "http://ajax.aspnetcdn.com/ajax/jQuery/jquery-1.4.1.js"
});

         RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
    }
 static void RegisterRoutes(RouteCollection routes)
    {
        routes.MapPageRoute("About", "about", "~/About.aspx");
        routes.MapPageRoute("Login", "login", "~/Login.aspx");
        routes.MapPageRoute("Signup", "signup", "~/Signup.aspx");
    }

Please, what can I do to make the default page display first, as the start page when I type the web address? e.g. www.mytestwebsite.com. I just want that when I type the address like the example I show above, it takes me to the Default page instead of the Login page.

Answer 1

Create a folder named "Public". Add a Default.aspx page to the Public folder. Allow all access to the Public folder in the web.config.

  <location path="Public">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow users="*" />
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
  </location>

Update the Global.asax to check if the current requested URL is the application root and the request is unauthorized. If so, redirect to ~/Public/Defualt.aspx"

protected void Application_AuthenticateRequest(Object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    string domainName = $"{HttpContext.Current.Request.Url.GetLeftPart(UriPartial.Authority)}/";
    if (!Request.IsAuthenticated & Request.Url.ToString() == domainName)
    {
        Response.Redirect("~/public/default.aspx");
    }
}

Answer 2

Please delete <deny users="?" /> in web.config and try again. "?" means all anonymous users.

Answer 3

Hi @Donald Symmons,

You try to change defaultUrl="overview.aspx" to defaultUrl="Default.aspx".

FormsAuthentication.DefaultUrl Property:Gets the URL that the FormsAuthentication class will redirect to if no redirect URL is specified.

If it still doesn't work, try setting <defaultDocument>.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/iis/configuration/system.webserver/defaultdocument/

<configuration>
   <system.webServer>
      <defaultDocument enabled="true">
         <files>
           <add value="Default.aspx" />
         </files>
      </defaultDocument>
   </system.webServer>
</configuration>

Best regards,
Lan Huang

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Answer 4

In Web Forms I place all the secured pages into a folder named "private" and add authorization to the private folder. Then you can has whatever public pages you like including the application root.